ISIS declares state of emergency in Raqqa: US

Washington: The Islamic State (IS) believes that it may soon come under siege in its self declared capital in Raqqa, Syria and the US military officials are closely monitoring the developments.

“We have seen this declaration of emergency in Raqqa, whatever that means. We know this enemy feels threatened, as they should,” US-led anti-ISIS coalition spokesperson Col Steve Warren said.

According to CNN, reports have indicated that ISIS is moving personnel around the city and trying to put up covers in certain areas to shield potential targets from air strikes and ground attacks.

“They see the Syrian Democratic Forces, along with the Syrian Arab Coalition, manoeuvre both to their east and to their west. Both of these areas becoming increasingly secure, and the Syrian Democratic Forces increasingly able to generate their own combat power in those areas,” Warren said.

“We’ve had reports of ISIL repositioning both their combat capabilities, I guess what they think may be coming next and we’ve seen reports of them repositioning personnel … either within the city or even out of the city,” he added.

While the US has not officially said that it believes ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi still remains in or around Raqqa, several officials say that has continued to be a working assumption, however, they are monitoring any potential intelligence that he could be in other locations as well.
ANI